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Are you your laptop weakest link?

It’s been in all of the news for the past couple of weeks. A data analyst in the VA Administration, decided to take a laptop computer home to do some work, thus saving taxpayers some money. What happen was the house was burglarized and the laptop stolen, along with all of the data in the computer.

What’s surprising isn’t that it happened, but that it hasn’t happened before now. Than again it may have just not with the type of data that was on that one.

Question to you, can you afford to lose your laptop. The laptop can be easily replaced, but what about the data. Has it been backed up? Does it hold information critical to your business? Does it hold your idea that is just about ready to send to the patent office?

So what do you do, you could store your laptop computer in a bank vault? But you sure wouldn’t get much work done on the road. One idea is to only carry the data that you need to do the day’s or week’s work, if you are traveling. Good idea unless you only have a laptop as your computer. Either way it is a good idea to encrypt sensitive information, with strong password protection. This included your login password.

No matter what you do, there’s always a risk of thief. If you make certain your laptop is locked securely when not with you it helps to prevent it. Lock it in the trunk when you are at a meeting where it’s not needed, and double-check that your vehicle is locked.

There are times, possibly when traveling and staying in a hotel it doesn’t make sense to take the computer with you. You can leave it in the room, but make certain it is secure. Many people have access into hotel rooms. It’s also possible that the maid may be cleaning the bathroom leaving the door open for access to her cleaning cart. A thief could walk in; pretend to the occupant remove the laptop from the desk and off it goes.

You could put it in the hotel safe. Or you could invest in a security cable and lock. Most laptop computers have a security slot that you can attach a cable or locking device. Wrap the cable around a heavy or stationary object, just like a bicycle.

Sometimes it’s the usual things that you do, that could make for a very depressing time.

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